Tewksbury

Grant program stomps down on artificial turf plan

TEWKSBURY -- Two months after Town Meeting voters said "yes" to an artificial-turf field at the new Tewksbury Memorial High School, the state said "no" to funding one.

A natural-grass field originally was intended for the site, and it's back to that plan now that the state's Division of Conservation Services rejected Tewksbury's application for a grant under the Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities program.

A measure approved 204- 36 at October's Special Town Meeting called for $750,000 to be spent on construction of an all-purpose artificial turf field, but only if the town first won a PARC grant.

The town hoped to receive $400,000 from the highly competitive grant program, to supplement $50,000 privately raised for an athletic complex. The remaining $300,000 would have been furnished by the town.

The language of the warrant article specified that no municipal money could be expended on the artificial-turf project if the grant fell through. In building plans for the new high school, which opened this past fall, funds were budgeted for a grass athletic field.

Board of Selectmen Chairman David Gay said he is unaware of any plans by town government to explore other potential avenues of funding.

Supporters of the turf field -- including members of Friends of the Tewksbury Community Athletic Complex, the nonprofit group that raised the $50,000 originally to be used toward a much larger, multi-sport complex -- may regroup and reapply for a grant.

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The town is eligible to reapply for PARC funding next year.

Though the town expected to receive word on its application in mid-October, grant awards were not announced until December. Under the PARC program, 20 communities throughout the state received at total of $7,186,700. The list of funded projects includes athletic field installation or resurfacing in Agawam, Brockton, East Boston and Springfield.

According to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, criteria used in determining grants includes project quality and demographics. Preference is given to park projects located close to urban centers and public transportation, and to those serving low-income neighborhoods or neighborhoods where 25 percent or more of the residents are a minority, foreign-born or lacking in English-language proficiency.

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